(photos in this article courtesy of the U.S. Virgin Department of Tourism and Minority Golf Magazine)

(This article will move to the Travel Section of Minority Golf Magazine next month. Travel is an important feature of our online magazine and many have requested our views on places to play and stay.)

A most enchanting excursion awaits the visitor to the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is an experience you will never forget and will yearn to repeat. Pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, charming local culture and centuries of intriguing history all contribute do the allure of the three beautiful Caribbean gems: St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas. There are actually 50 islands in all, some merely rocks or islets jutting out on the shimmering turquoise waters. While St. John and St. Thomas lie between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, St. Croix lies entirely in the Caribbean. Read the story »

At the time I was growing up in the early 60’s in Cincinnati, Ohio, Black golfers were relegated to playing at the few public courses available to them: Sharon Woods, the Lunken Airport driving range, Winton Woods–and the regional “hub” of Black golf, Avon Field. While Avon was not very long or challenging (compared to many of the newer public courses), it served as a magnet for some of the best Black players in the country, includingJim and Chuck Thorpe, Curtis Sifford, Ted Rhodes, James Black and Pete Brown. Many other great Black professionals, like Jimmy Woods, were well-qualified but never had a chance to play on the PGA tour. Those of us minority players who were in our early 20s at the time, could only marvel at the wealth of golf talent that graced the fairways of Avon Field and other local and regional courses like Coffin in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Madden in Dayton, Ohio–as well as others–by virtue of the “money” games. Read the story »

This is old news but worth noting again as golf moves into a new year attempting to gain participants from all corners of American society. This page will feature other ways of attracting new and keeping the old in the coming months. (ed.)

Augusta National Billy Payne announced that the club will welcome two new female members.

Billy Payne improved August National today.

By accepting Condi Rice and Darla Moore, he made a move in keeping with the club’s traditions. He admitted two people who love golf and who are prominent in their fields and who are well known and well liked by the membership. There’s nothing exceptional about that. The club admits new members every fall.

But Billy parted with tradition here in two ways. First, for a club that always says membership practices are a private matter, he announced the two new members by way of press release. And the only reason he did that was because the two new members are women. Read the story »